Terrorism In Decline

Trend Will Continue Only With Security, Vigilance

July 26, 1992

Hardly a day goes by without some spurt of violence, whether it's a shooting inside an American courthouse, the slaying of a judge in Italy or the bloody escape of a Colombian druglord. But in fact state-sponsored terrorism has declined. Experts say there have been fewer of the spectacular hijackings, bombings and kidnappings that gripped the public in fear for the last quarter-century.

The relative calm is attributed to international cooperation in fighting back against terrorists and the dwindling of financial support for groups that use violence to further their cause. Because the Soviet Union dried up as a source of such funding, countries such as Syria, Libya, Cuba and North Korea are seen as less inclined to launch elaborate terrorist schemes.

Still, this is no time for complacency. There will always be elements who prefer guns and pipe bombs as weapons in propaganda wars. The Summer Olympics is a reminder of that awful week 20 years ago when 11 Israelis were murdered at Munich.

It's encouraging that the most celebrated hostage situations have been resolved and no more planes have been shot out of the sky with large loss of life since 1989. Perhaps terrorist tactics have been muted as effective instruments of change. But just to be sure, the United States and its allies should continue to be vigilant and spend enough on security, at military installations and airports in particular. The longer the calm lasts, the better.